Document · Apostille
Getting an Indian document apostilled
The procedure is published, short and cheap. It is sold in Gujarat for many times what it costs, which works because almost nobody has read the three steps.
The short answer
An apostille is a certificate the Ministry of External Affairs attaches to an Indian document so it can be used in another country that belongs to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. MEA charges ₹50 for the sticker. It does not accept documents from individuals, so everything is filed through an authorised agency.
First decide which of the two procedures you need
This is the whole decision, and it is made by the destination country rather than by you or by the agency you walk into. Start the wrong one and the document has to go through again.
Apostille
For a country in the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. The sticker is the end of it, and no embassy needs to see the document afterwards.
Normal attestation
For a country outside the convention. MEA attests free of charge, and the document then has to be legalised at that country's mission in India as a further step.
The three dates people ask about
| Country | In the convention since |
|---|---|
| India | 14 July 2005 |
| France | 24 January 1965 |
| Canada | 11 January 2024 |
Canada's date catches almost everybody
Canada joined only on 11 January 2024. Advice written before that says a Canadian document for use in India needs authentication and then legalisation at an Indian mission, and most of what is online was written before that. If a page does not carry a date, assume it predates the change.
MEA apostilles two families of document: personal documents, meaning birth, death and marriage certificates, affidavits and powers of attorney; and educational documents, meaning degrees, diplomas, matriculation and secondary school certificates.
The three steps
In MEA's own order. The first step is the one people skip, and it is the one that makes the rest possible.
Get the document authenticated in your state
A Regional Authentication Centre authenticates the document first. MEA legalises on the basis of the signature of the designated signing authority of the State Government, Union Territory or Chamber of Commerce, so without that signature there is nothing for it to act on.
Deposit it with an authorised outsourced agency
MEA has not accepted documents directly from individuals since July 2012. The original or a true copy goes to one of the authorised service providers, with a photocopy of the document and a photocopy of your passport.
Collect it from the same agency
The apostille comes back as a sticker on the document, issued by the Branch Secretariat or Regional Passport Office with jurisdiction over where you filed it.
Ahmedabad is one of the sixteen
MEA decentralised apostille and attestation from 1 January 2019 to Branch Secretariats and Regional Passport Offices in 16 cities, Ahmedabad among them. A Gujarat applicant does not need to route documents through Delhi, and an agency telling you otherwise is describing the position before 2019.
The agencies MEA authorises to collect and return documents are BLS International Services, Superb Enterprises, IVS Global Services and Alhind Tours and Travels. Anybody else offering to take your documents to MEA is a middleman standing in front of one of these counters.
What it actually costs
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| MEA, per apostille sticker | ₹50 |
| MEA, normal attestation | Free |
| Agency service charge, per document | ₹84 |
| Agency scanning, per page | ₹3 |
State-level authentication, the first step, carries its own fee and it varies by state and by which department signs. What the table above does establish is the size of the central government's share, and it is small. An apostille "package" quoted in thousands of rupees is mostly somebody's margin.
MEA's own warning about touts
MEA advises applicants not to rely on unauthorised persons or touts for apostille and attestation services. The document being handled is usually an original degree or an original birth certificate, and it is being handed to a stranger.
What an apostille does not do
It authenticates a signature, and that is all it claims to do. In MEA's own words:
MEA legalises the document on the basis of the signature of the designated signing authority, and takes no responsibility for the contents of the document.
- It is not a translation. Where the receiving authority wants the document in its own language, that is a separate requirement and the apostille does not satisfy it.
- It is not a verification of your degree. It says the registrar's signature is genuine, not that you attended.
- The Ministry does not legalise photocopies. You submit the original or a true copy.
A Canadian file is a different case again: IRCC has its own rules about which documents it wants in original, in colour scan, and from which authority, and an apostille is not among them for most of them.
Questions applicants ask
How much does an apostille cost in India?
An apostille costs ₹50 in Ministry of External Affairs fees per apostille sticker, plus ₹84 per document as the authorised outsourced agency's service charge and ₹3 per page for scanning. Those are MEA's own published figures. State-level authentication before that step carries its own fee, which varies by state and department. The reason this is worth knowing precisely is that agencies advertise apostille "packages" running into thousands of rupees, and most of that is neither a government fee nor a service you cannot arrange yourself.
What is the difference between apostille and attestation?
An apostille is for countries that are party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, and attestation is for the countries that are not. If your destination is a member, the apostille sticker is the end of the process and no embassy needs to see the document afterwards. If it is not a member, MEA does a normal attestation, free of charge, and the document then has to be legalised at that country's embassy or consulate in India as a separate step. Getting this the wrong way round is the most expensive mistake on the subject, because a document attested for a Hague country has to be started again.
Is an apostille from India valid in France?
An apostille issued in India is valid in France. Both countries are party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961: it entered into force for France on 24 January 1965 and for India on 14 July 2005. So an Indian degree, birth certificate or marriage certificate carrying an MEA apostille needs no further legalisation at the French consulate. What the apostille does not do is translate anything. Where the French authority asks for the document in French, that is a separate requirement and the apostille does not replace it.
Do Canadian documents need an apostille for use in India?
Canadian documents now carry an apostille, and this changed recently enough that most advice online is out of date. Canada acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 with effect from 11 January 2024. Before that, a Canadian document for use in India needed authentication by Global Affairs Canada and then legalisation at an Indian mission. Pages written before 2024, which is most of them, still describe that older route. Check the date on anything you read about this.
Can I get an apostille in Ahmedabad?
You can get an apostille in Ahmedabad. MEA decentralised these services from 1 January 2019 to Branch Secretariats and Regional Passport Offices in 16 cities, and Ahmedabad is one of them, so a Gujarat applicant no longer has to route documents through Delhi. You still cannot hand the document to MEA yourself: since July 2012 it has not accepted documents directly from individuals, and everything goes through one of the authorised outsourced agencies with a photocopy of the document and a photocopy of your passport.
Will MEA apostille a photocopy of my degree?
MEA will not apostille a photocopy. Its own page states that the Ministry does not legalise photocopies, and what you submit is the original document or a true copy, together with a photocopy and a copy of your passport for the file. This matters because agencies collecting documents in bulk sometimes submit what is convenient rather than what is required, and the applicant discovers it when the document comes back unusable. Ask which document was actually submitted before you pay.
Where this comes from
Documents for abroad
Tell us the destination and we will tell you which procedure applies.
Apostille or attestation is decided by the destination country, and starting the wrong one costs weeks. We work out which applies, what has to be authenticated first, and in what order, so nothing is submitted twice.
Three fields · about 30 seconds